the two biggest CDMA operators in the united States are Verizon and sprint.

Kelly


the financial times
    Published: May 30 2004 21:59 | Last Updated: May 30 2004 21:59


    Motorola to launch the first dual-band phone

    By Mure Dickie in Beijing


    Motorola , facing a challenge to its dominance of the Chinese mobile
phone market, is preparing to launch a handset that works with both of the
world's dominant wireless standards, the first time such technology would
be introduced anywhere.

    The new "world phone", which can be used on both the GSM and CDMA
networks, will become available by the end of the third quarter,
potentially helping China Unicom, the country's second largest mobile
operator, to lure more customers to its slow-growing CDMA services.

    Motorola dominated the Chinese mobile market, the world's largest in
terms of subscribers, but has come under increasing pressure from Chinese
manufacturers in recent years.

    Some telecommunications analysts have expressed concerns about the
cost and technical performance of such dual-band phones but Motorola
insists that its handset will function as well as standard models and
allow users to access data services on both networks.

    The dual phone, priced 20 per cent higher than the average high-end
CDMA phone, will be launched through China Unicom, followed by Indian CDMA
operators Tata and Reliance and Verizon Wireless of the US.

    Motorola's move comes as the US telecoms equipment company claims to
have stemmed a decline in its market share in China.

    Ron Garriques, a Motorola senior vice-president, said the company had
been regaining market share since last November and expected to remain
China's top handset provider with about 17 to 21 per cent of total sales.
He said it had fought back by focusing on neglected smaller cities and
improving its products.

    "I don't think we will ever get back to the low 30s market share that
we once had . . . but I think that is okay," he said.

    For CDMA-focused operators such as China Unicom, the new phone offers
a chance to appeal to high-value customers who often travel abroad and who
tend to favour GSM services because the standard is more widely used round
the world.

    Among China's mobile phone users, about 228m are users of
European-developed GSM while 22.5m have opted for the CDMA standard
favoured in the US.

    Motorola is likely to continue to face strong competition from local
rivals with strong marketing networks and international vendors trying to
expand into China. Japan's NEC on Friday u nveiled a restructuring of its
Chinese mobile phone operations and plans to introduce more than 20 new
handsets this year.


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